If you just can't stop thinking about GTA 6, take comfort in knowing that you're far from being alone. The next instalment in the Grand Theft Auto franchise may not have been formally announced by developer Rockstar Games yet, but there's no shortage of people keen to know more about it.
Why are people keen to know more about a game that's not technically been acknowledged by its developer? Well, there have been convincing reports that GTA 6 is in the early stages of development. Besides that, another GTA game feels like something of an inevitability, particularly after the enormous success of Grand Theft Auto 5 which launched nearly eight years ago. Eight!
The problem is, with Rockstar Games not saying a thing, and its parent company Take-Two following suit, we’re relying on an active rumor mill and some wild speculation to figure out what’s on the cards for GTA 6. If the game is still in the early stages of its development, as reports have suggested, then even if an announcement does happen, the GTA 6 release date is likely to be a long way off.
We're set to see an "expanded and enhanced" GTA 5 hit PS5 and Xbox Series X this November, but we’re also hoping that it could be the year we hear something solid on GTA 6. So, while there’s still no official confirmation and details are thin on the ground, we’ve collated the best of the news and rumors around GTA 6 below for your perusal.
GTA 6: what you need to know
- What is GTA 6? The rumored next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series
- When it GTA 6 coming out? That’s the internet’s biggest mystery (but we're pretty sure it won't be soon)
- What platforms will GTA 6 release on? We're expecting Xbox Series X and PS5
- Will GTA 6 launch on PC? Both GTA 4 and 5 made their way to PC (eventually), so fingers crossed
- Where will GTA 6 be set? Unknown, but some rumors have suggested a move to South America
GTA 6 release date: when is GTA 6 coming out?
There isn't even a single word to go on from Rockstar about the game at the moment, but that hasn't made fans any less ravenous for speculation and rumors about the next title.
People have been pouring over Rockstar's job listings for any hints, as well as looking for clues in a music video for Blinding Lights by artist The Weeknd. Fans won't stop looking, and they're clearly starved of any substantial information about GTA 6.
Obviously, fans were expecting to see something about Grand Theft Auto 6 with the release of the PS5 and Xbox Series X, but all we have to go on at the moment is yet another port of GTA 5 coming to the PS5 instead of a sequel - which could also push a release date back.
With all this in mind and the tight-lipped nature of Rockstar, we probably shouldn't expect to see any sort of reveal any time soon, unfortunately.
A Kotaku report has claimed that GTA 6, or at least "a new entry in the Grand Theft Auto series," is early in development as of April 2020. Additionally, it suggests that Rockstar's internal plan for the game is to release a slightly smaller game and then expand on it through regular updates. This suggests GTA 6 will build on the success of GTA Online by integrating more live service options.
The most solid GTA 6 release date hint comes from publisher Take-Two Interactive's marketing budget. Reported by VentureBeat, Take-Two's 10-K SEC filing (which lays out financial plans for the next five years) shows that the company expects to spend $89 million on marketing between April 2023, and the end of March 2024 - that's a huge spike and, as the report points out, more than half the marketing budget expected for any other fiscal year over the next decade.
This has led industry analyst Jeff Cohen to predict that this spike is because GTA 6 is expected to release within this period.
In a note to investors, included in VentureBeat's report, Cohen pointed out that previous marketing budgets have predicted the releases of other big releases from Take-Two Interactive, including Red Dead Redemption 2.
If this prediction is correct then we would expect to see GTA 6 release sometime between April 2023 and March 2024. Originally this spike was expected to take place in the fiscal year 2023, however, it's been pushed back to 2024. If it is GTA 6 that has caused this spike, this would suggest that a delay has occurred.
Again, it's worth noting that GTA 6 hasn't been confirmed by Rockstar to even be in development, so we can only speculate about the release date.
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GTA 6 trailer: when can I watch one?
The thing about Rockstar Games is that it’s an incredibly secretive games publisher. No GTA 6 trailer is getting out of that studio unless someone seriously screws up.
Just look at what Rockstar did with both GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2. It teased an announcement a few days before dropping the first trailer for either game.
If there’s a GTA 6 trailer, you’ll know about it because the internet will explode – and we'll let you know too, of course. But we're not expecting one anytime soon.
It seems there are two options for Rockstar: first, it could follow the same pattern as previous games where a teaser is shown and an announcement trailer soon follows.
Second, and bear with us here, Rockstar could do a 'Nintendo' and surprise-release the game digitally out of nowhere. Obviously, this would fly in the face of the pre-release hype we're all dying to get swept up in, but it could definitely be an option as Covid-19 leads to more physical game and entertainment store closures across the globe.
GTA 6 news and rumors: what do we know so far?
Below we've collected all of the latest leaks and rumors that hint at when GTA 6 might be launched – and what we can expect from the new game. As always, take these details with a huge pinch of salt – some are old, some are from now-deleted sources and others might just be keen fans getting carried away.
An in-game reveal?
Though GTA 6 wasn’t unveiled during E3 2021, a recent job listing has fuelled existing rumors that it will be revealed during a GTA Online event, an approach games like Call of Duty have had success with in the past.
Building on previous rumors that Rockstar would use GTA Online updates to market GTA 6, this recent Rockstar job listing (via GameRant) for a Live Operations Coordinator shows that the developer looking for someone to “be responsible for executing all in-game marketing campaigns for Red Dead Online and Grand Theft Auto Online. This is a full-time, permanent position based in our Soho, Manhattan studio.”
This should, of course, be taken with a pinch of salt as neither Rockstar nor Take-Two have said anything about any plans to reveal GTA 6 in the GTA Online world and having a Live Operations Coordinator is no guarantee of this happening.
No E3 appearance
GTA 6 didn’t make an appearance at E3 2021, as we expected. While 2K Games' parent company, Take-Two Interactive, did host an interactive panel on June 14, the panel focused on “Diversity, Equity and Inclusion” so it’s not surprising that GTA 6 wasn’t revealed to the world.
GTA 6 could reward you in cryptocurrency instead of cash
Tom Henderson, a well-known Call of Duty and Battlefield leaker, claimed on Twitter that he's recently heard that some of GTA 6's missions will reward players in in-game payments of bitcoin rather than cash.
According to Henderson, bitcoin wouldn't replace cash as in-game currency, but instead would sit alongside it. Henderson claims that the stock market will make a return in GTA 6, with the addition of a broker for different cryptocurrencies.
These bitcoin payments apparently be rewarded for every mission but instead will be rewarded by more high-profile characters who want to move high amounts of "untraceable cash and fast".
This in-game currency will apparently not be called bitcoin, but will still be a form of cryptocurrency.
I heard recently that in GTA 6, some missions will reward you in bitcoin instead of cash for completing some missions. The stock market feature will return, with the addition of a broker for different cryptocurrencies. If GTA 6 incorporates this right, it's huge for crypto.June 3, 2021
GTA 6 Florida and Cuba setting rumor has been debunked
Another major GTA 6 rumor has been debunked. The rumor originally appeared on a post on The Medium, by a poster called Tim McDowell who wrote a 'deep dive' on the (proven to be accurate) rumors around Red Dead Redemption 2. The piece also included images from 4Chan with apparently 'leaked' details about GTA 6. These details claimed the game would be set in Cuba and Florida, and echoed leaker Tom Henderson's claims the next GTA will have a female protagonist.
But, after a suspicious fan (ADropInTheOcean) on the GTA forums did some digging, they found that the post was full of false information and the images had been photoshopped. Essentially, the whole article has been a troll. Seemingly realizing they had been found out, McDowell has since updated The Medium article to a meme.
We might be going to...Brazil?
Recent GTA 6 leaks suggest that the game could be at least partly set in Rio de Janeiro - or an exaggerated GTA equivalent at the very least.
Posted to imgur, fans over on the GTA subreddit are speculating that the map could be based on the iconic Brazilian city. This would make for a break from the series most used settings, those being Liberty City and San Andreas, both based on New York City and Los Angeles respectively.
The potential Brazilian setting lines up with previous rumors of GTA 6's development codename: Project Americas. According to these rumors, GTA 6 will be set across the US and South America, with the player character(s) traversing between the two similar to how we can in Red Dead Redemption.
A modern day setting?
There have been plenty of rumors that GTA 6 will take players back into the past but notable leaker, Tom Henderson, has suggested otherwise.
Henderson, known for Call of Duty and Battlefield leaks, said on Twitter (via GamesRadar) that the game will, in fact, be set in the modern day rather than the 1980s as many have come to believe.
It's not set in the 1980's and is modern. https://t.co/iav46Ty35VApril 12, 2021
Of course, Henderson didn’t provide a source for this information and, since Rockstar also hasn’t provided any official confirmation for the game’s setting, this should be taken with a pinch of salt and doesn't really bring us much further forward. Henderson’s claim does, however, throw a spanner in a theory that’s very popular at the moment; that GTA 6 will return to Vice City as well as other cities and span a long period of time which includes the 1980s.
Take-Two to attend E3 2021
Rockstar’s parent company Take-Two is going to be part of E3 2021. This year, the show is going to be an entirely digital affair and Take-Two is one of the companies confirmed to be attending, alongside Nintendo, Xbox, Capcom, Ubisoft and more.
Obviously, Take-Two’s attendance at E3 doesn’t guarantee that GTA 6 will be revealed at the event but it does at least make it possible that we could see something Grand Theft Auto-related at the show. More possible than if Take-Two wasn't going to be attending at all, anyway. That said, Take-Two’s portfolio contains more than Rockstar Games and there are plenty of other titles the company could have up its sleeve to show during the event from developers like 2K or Private Division.
It's also worth noting that Rockstar tends to do things on its own terms and isn't really known for making a big deal of E3. It doesn't really have to, either; any new Rockstar game is going to get attention regardless of when it's announced, particularly a game as highly-anticipated as GTA 6.
E3 2021 will take place between June 12 and June 15 but it remains unclear when in this window Take-Two will be doing its bit—that’s likely to be announced closer to the time.
Speculation addressed by Take-Two Interactive
Unfortunately, Rockstar Games' parent company, Take-Two Interactive, is remaining tight-lipped about the prospect of GTA 6 and when we could get our hands on it.
When asked by an eager investor about GTA, during the Morgan Stanley Technology, Media & Telecom Conference last week (via Comic Book), Take-Two's CEO, Strauss Zelnick reiterated that GTA 6 hasn't been confirmed and that he wouldn't be the one to spill the beans on it.
"Right, so, Rockstar hasn’t announced any new titles for the market and when there’s an announcement to be made it’ll come from Rockstar, so I’ll probably leave you there and I don’t think you would have expected anything else,” Zelnick responded.
It's not exactly what we wanted to hear, but it does mean that we can expect Rockstar Games to make its own GTA 6 announcement when the time comes - rather than the game being announced to investors during one of these meetings.
Take-Two CEO commits to single-player experiences
Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Rockstar's parent company, Take-Two, has said that Rockstar Games will continue to make single-player games, which is likely to be welcome news to those hoping that GTA 6 will offer a single-player experience despite the success of GTA Online.
In a Q3 2021 earnings call (via GameSpot), Zelnick said, “The folks at Rockstar Games intended to create a powerful single-player experience a story-driven experience. And Rockstar has always been known for great stories and great single-player experiences and then developed in addition, a massive multiplayer opportunity over the past years”, adding that Rockstar’s success with both single and multiplayer games is proof that it can have both rather than just one.
This lines up with a 2020 GQ interview with Rockstar’s Tarek Hamad and Scott Butchard. When asked if Rockstar will continue to tell single-player stories even as Online continues, Hamad replied “Absolutely” and Butchard intimated that it could even become more a part of the Online experience, saying “I think you can see that with Online and I think going forward we’re going to inject more of that single-player element in there.”
Job listing pointing to a possible trailer? It seems unlikely
There has been some excitement in the GTA 6 community after a job posting for a “Cinematic Gameplay Capture Artist” was spotted at Rockstar (via ScreenRant). The description of the role notes that the person would be responsible for shooting the in-game footage that's used for putting together digital and TV advertising campaigns, which has led some to wonder if a GTA 6 trailer could be on the horizon.
With this one, we think it’s probably best to lower expectations. Given there’s a GTA 5 port coming to the latest generation of consoles, it seems more likely that this job will have something to do with the marketing campaign around that launch later this year rather than anything to do with the still-technically-unannounced GTA 6.
New patent suggests smarter NPCs
A new patent filed by Grand Theft Auto publisher Take-Two could point to GTA 6 having improved AI for its NPCs. The patent attempts to trademark a “system and method for virtual navigation in a gaming environment“ and was filed by the publisher in October 2020.
The main focus of the patent is on the ways NPCs move around and react to environments, with a particular emphasis on driving NPCs, highlighting that the conventional systems only have “limited resources” when it comes to automating NPCs. The tech in the patent would make it possible to create “a realistic virtual world that is not limited by hardware or software limitations.”
It might, for example, see NPCs have different driver profiles for more realistic and natural behavior, meaning speed limits could be dynamically adhered to, and non-moving objects, such as street lights or car crashes, could be recognized and responded to accordingly. Driving NPCs might also dynamically react to things like traffic jams or high-speed chases and find another route around the game map.
The patent also takes into consideration more general driving skills, like a better understanding of vehicle handling when moving at top speed, and braking times, for an overall more realistic on-the-road experience.
Of course, it should be noted that the patent was filed by Take-Two and therefore isn’t necessarily about GTA 6 - it could be about any of the publisher’s games. However, one promising sign that it relates to the GTA franchise is that the system’s inventors are David Hynd and Simon Parr who work at Rockstar in the roles of associate director of technology and lead AI programmer.
As with any patent, there's no guarantee that it'll be applied in a final product, but it does seem likely that this system was created with Grand Theft Auto 6, or at least Grand Theft Auto Online, in mind.
A female protagonist?
A report suggests that GTA 6 could be the first game in the franchise to feature a playable female protagonist. The report comes from Call of Duty leaker, Tom Henderson, who took to Twitter (via ComicBook.com) to claim that the game will have “a playable male and female protagonist”.
For the first time ever in a GTA title, GTA 6 will have a playable female and male protagonist. #GTA6 #GTAVIJanuary 10, 2021
Given GTA 5 had multiple playable protagonists, it wouldn’t be completely out of the realms of possibility for GTA 6 to follow the same multi-protagonist path and make one of the playable characters a woman. Or GTA could go down the route of other franchises like Assassin’s Creed and give players the choice over their character at the beginning of the game.
However, this is one of many rumors surrounding GTA 6 and like the others it should be taken with a pinch of salt; though Henderson has been accurate in his predictions for the Call of Duty franchise, he hasn’t given any source for this GTA information so we can’t know anything for sure until Rockstar confirms it.
Former insider reality check
Those who are hoping to get their hands on Grand Theft Auto 6 sometime soon may be disappointed by a recent tweet from former Rockstar insider Yan2295. Dismissing rumors that the game might be coming soon, they tweeted to say that while the game “is being developed”, it’s “not coming soon”. Nor do they have any idea when it will be announced or released. Even though we should always take statements that don’t come from Rockstar itself with a pinch of salt, this one does at least seem fairly realistic, if extremely vague, as it doesn’t certainly doesn't look like Grand Theft Auto 6 is going to be coming anytime soon.
Yes GTA 6 is being developped. No it's not coming soon. No I don't know when it's gonna be announced or released. You can stop asking now.January 2, 2021
GTA Online update has fans looking for clues
A recent teaser posted by Rockstar for the new GTA Online update has kicked up some GTA 6 rumors.
In the teaser, fans spotted a set of GPS coordinates which, when entered into Google Maps, lead to a dirt road in Virginia. This might seem like nothing but some fans think that the road is shaped like the Roman numeral for 6, “VI”, and is, therefore, a direct reference to Grand Theft Auto 6 by Rockstar. It seems like a stretch and Rockstar hasn't said anything either way, but it’s a clear sign that fans are hungry for GTA 6 news.
When I searched this location on Map , it showed a place in North America and the roads direction were in the shape of VI ..... #GTAVI #GTA6 #GTAOnline pic.twitter.com/5rlyW8RFo1November 20, 2020
Futuristic setting?
There are some suggestions out there that GTA 6 is going to be set in the 1980s, while others are saying it's going to be far more futuristic than any other title.
If a report by Christian Today is to be believed, this could be the direction the game goes. GTA 5, and the entire franchise, has always had some absurd moments in it which firmly root it away from possibility and reality, but they've never been huge moments in the game. The Christian Today report also alleges that there might even be time travel involved in the next GTA title.
For what it's worth, we think this would probably plant it a bit too close to Saint's Row, which is already incredibly similar to Grand Theft Auto and this is probably something Rockstar would be keen to avoid.
There are, of course, jetpacks, flying cars and motorcycles in GTA 5 which are always incredibly fun to mess around within the Online mode, so a more futuristic setting would be interesting and a big enough change for Rockstar to keep the games fresh than just another crime-ridden USA city.
Flying completely in the face of this rumour, an earlier leak on Reddit suggested that it would go the opposite way and take us into the 1980s. Time will tell...
GTA 6 and Vice City Online domains updated
It doesn't take much for GTA 6 rumours to take off so Take-Two Interactive renewing a couple of relevant domain names will certainly do it. A user of Reddit (via GamesRadar) recently pointed out that the publishing parent of Rockstar renewed its ownership of the domain names gtavicecityonline and gtavi.
It's worth bearing in mind that companies often claim domain names related to their products even when they have no intention of ever using them, so we shouldn't take this too much to heart. We won't know anything for sure until Rockstar starts making some official announcements.
GTA 5 Online's continued success won't necessarily stop GTA 6
GTA 5 Online has been a huge success for a while now and naturally, this has left some wondering if that success could hold up any potential GTA 6 release. According to GamesIndustry.biz, in May 2020 Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick was asked in an interview at the Bernstein Annual Strategic Decisions Conference if the publisher would "think twice" about launching a new game when the live service game is still performing well.
Zelnick could not be persuaded to comment on release plans for a game that hasn't been announced. However, he did touch on a time Take-Two has faced a similar dilemma with NBA 2K Online.
According to Zelnick, Take-Two had NBA 2K Online in China and it was performing well but when it came time to update the game and they released NBA 2K Online 2 "it turned out to be a massive hit". Take-Two found that "the audience was still stable and growing for NBA 2K Online itself, the first title. So we kept them both up and they're both up to this day.“
According to GamesIndustry.biz, Zelnick went on to say “Any time you look at a business and you take the position, 'This is great, it's the gift that keeps on giving. I'm just going to stick with it and I'm not going to worry about innovating because everyone loves what we have,' you are just moments away from being destroyed by your competitors," adding “I am not remotely worried about being in a position that we have a great line of live services and a new release and that there's somehow maybe some internal competition. That to me is the definition of a high-class problem.”
Although Zelnick was not commenting on GTA 6 directly, his comments do suggest that GTA 5 Online's success wouldn't necessarily stop Take-Two moving forward with a new instalment in the series.
The next step for GTA could be VR
GTA in VR? It could be on the cards if a posting on LinkedIn from an Australian development studio is anything to go by. In the post, Video Games Deluxe shared that it's "now gearing up for a new project, a AAA open-world title in VR for Rockstar. 2020 marks our 7th year of working exclusively for Rockstar in Sydney and we are excited to taking on this groundbreaking project."
The studio has history with Rockstar, having worked on the VR adaption of L.A. Noire for PC and PSVR so this doesn't seem unlikely.
The question is what game will be getting the VR treatment. We can say right away we don't think it's likely that GTA 6 will be coming out of the gates in VR. An older title seems more likely and GTA 5 is the lead contender.
The game seems to be perpetually popular and an expanded and enhanced version has already been confirmed for PS5, which could mean PSVR 2 involvement.
The good news for GTA 6 hopefuls is that this project is with an entirely different studio so if GTA 6 is in development, this VR project isn't likely to derail anything.
GTA 5 enhanced edition
GTA 5 is coming to PS5 and Xbox Series X in November 2021, Sony has announced. The game will be enhanced and expanded, and feature a range of visual upgrades and improvements to performance that will take full advantage of the next-gen beefy hardware.
GTA Online will also continue, with additional content that’s exclusive to Sony’s new console. A standalone version of GTA Online will also be made available for free, exclusively for PlayStation 5 players during the first three months.
While this is welcome news for GTA 5 fans, it suggests we probably won't see GTA 6 release until at least after mid-2021 and makes those reports of a 2023 or 2024 release seem more likely.
GTA 6 release date might have been discovered - and it's bad news
As reported by VentureBeat, Take-Two's 10-K SEC filing (which lays out financial plans for the next five years) shows that the company expects to spend $89 million on marketing between April 2023, and the end of March 2024 - that's a huge spike and, as the report points out, more than half the marketing budget expected for any other fiscal year over the next decade.
This has led industry analyst Jeff Cohen to predict that this spike is because GTA 6 is expected to release within this period.
In a note to investors, included in VentureBeat's report, Cohen pointed out that previous marketing budgets have predicted the releases of other big releases from Take-Two Interactive, including Red Dead Redemption 2.
"We are not sure how much we should be reading into this shift, but we would note that this disclosure accurately predicted the launch of Red Dead Redemption 2 prior to that game’s announcement," the note reads. "Management has spoken very confidently about the pipeline over the next five years and existing live services execution has been excellent. However, the timing of the next Grand Theft Auto remains top-of-mind for investors, particularly with the stock near all-time highs."
If this prediction is correct then we would expect to see GTA 6 release sometime between April 2023 and March 2024. Originally this spike was expected to take place in the fiscal year 2023, however, it's been pushed back to 2024. If it is GTA 6 that has caused this spike, this would suggest that a delay has incurred - potentially due to Covid-19.
Take-Two Interactive has 93 games in the works
Grand Theft Auto publisher, Take-Two Interactive, has revealed it has 93 "full game releases" planned for the next five years – and we're hoping GTA 6 is one of them.
During an earnings call (via GamesRadar), Take-Two president Karl Slatoff said that this line-up is the strongest in the company's history, but what can we expect? Well, according to Slatoff, 63 of these games are "core gaming experiences", 17 will be "mid-core or arcade" and 13 are casual games.
However, out of these 93 games, 21 will be exclusively mobile titles - with the other 72 landing on PC, consoles and streaming platforms. But, perhaps the most interesting stat from this meeting is that half of this games line-up is from existing IPs. Suggesting we could be seeing GTA 6 in that five-year window, with the highly-anticipated next GTA falling into that "core gaming experiences" category.
"This is a larger pipeline than we've had before, we've been talking about this for quite some time. Our expectation is that we'd like to keep up this velocity," Slatoff said. "It's really important for us to build scale, and this is one way that we're doing it. We need more at-bats."
CEO Strauss Zelnick explained that the publisher plans to smooth out its financial results with "a handful or greater of new significant releases every year". And it looks like the company believes it may have some big successes in the pipeline.
"With our strong catalogue, with our live service offerings, and with our annual releases, we can have great strength, even in a light year, even though it's not our goal to have a light year, and then do even better in the year when we're able to launch a number of titles, which is our strategy, and even better than that if we're fortunate enough to have a blockbuster title. And we have some of those as well," Zelnick said.
Story reportedly finished
The story for Rockstar’s GTA 6 is apparently finished if a supposed insider is to be believed.
Chris ‘Liberty93’ from Rockstar Mag (a French fansite) claims the story for Grand Theft Auto 6 was wrapped up prior to the departure of Rockstar’s head writer, Dan Houser, and that the next GTA entry will still have the “soul” of a typical Rockstar game.
Although a finished story might suggest a release date for GTA 6 is close, Chris did point out that many changes were made to Red Dead Redemption 2’s story during development, despite it being 'completed' way back in 2012.
“They still made changes in late 2017, early 2018, and many little details were modified," Chris explained.
Reports of early development
It seems that Grand Theft Auto 6 is in the early stages of its development if a report from Kotaku is anything to go by (as of 2020). In the report which is primarily following up on the cultural changes that have taken place at Rockstar after a previous investigation into crunch at the studio, Kotaku has touched on the studio's future, including the fact that studio management has outlined a plan for "a new entry in the Grand Theft Auto series".
The report goes on to say that this new installment is planned to be a "moderately sized release" (so, probably still pretty big) which will be "expanded with regular updates over time". The hope is that this approach will lessen stress and crunch.
It's worth noting, though, that the report emphasizes that the game is still in the very early development stages so plans could quite easily change over time as the development process evolves.
Take-Two plays down AAA releases
In an earnings call for Take-Two Interactive – the publisher that owns GTA developer Rockstar – shareholders were told to expect the "most robust pipeline" in the company's history. However, Take-Two CEO Strauss H. Zelnick also stressed that some years would be thin on releases – which, given the launch of Red Dead Redemption 2 in 2018, doesn't make us hopeful for any new GTA titles in the coming year.
"Given that we're a company that depends on our creative teams to make as close to perfect products as possible," said Zelnick, "we have to be willing to live with the vagaries of product deliveries. And that means, sometimes, we will have thin frontline years."
Dan Houser leaves Rockstar
Revealed in a statement by Rockstar Games parent company Take-Two Interactive, Houser (who was has been on an extended leave period since spring 2019) will be officially leaving the company on March 11. His brother Sam Houser remains present as president.
Houser, who has variously acted as writer, producer and voice actor at Rockstar, led Rockstar Games to become one of the biggest developers in the industry. It's currently unknown whether this will have an impact on GTA 6's development.
CJ voice actor dismisses rumors
Chris Bellard, the voice actor for GTA San Andreas' character CJ, has debunked rumors that he will be reprising his role in GTA 6. Using Instagram, Bellard posted that he's "not involved in GTA VI at all".
This doesn't rule out the return of CJ as a character entirely (Rockstar could always cast someone else in the role) but it does confirm that Bellard isn't involved and doesn't intend to be if asked.
Rockstar hasn't commented on rumors and we won't know anything certain about the cast for GTA 6 until it speaks out.
Scouting areas in Florida
Speculation around a Florida setting – even a game that encompassed the whole state – has been brimming after a leaked letter was given legitimacy by a well-regarded Rockstar leaker, @Yan2295.
The letter was to a Florida store asking permission for Rockstar Games to inspect the premises, presumably for use or inspiration in the forthcoming game – mentioning a location scout Leah Sokolowsky who hinted at a large digital media client in a podcast back in May 2019 (via Daily Star).
Project Americas
Another day and another Grand Theft Auto 6 leak (via GamesRadar) is making the rounds, though we'd recommend not getting too excited given it's from a now-deleted Reddit post. Admittedly, some of the things that appear in this supposed leak do corroborate previous rumors but this consistency is no confirmation of what the game will be and we won't know for sure what's in store for Grand Theft Auto 6 until Rockstar itself makes an announcement.
Regardless, it's still fun to get our imaginations going for what the future of the Grand Theft Auto franchise may hold. According to the Reddit poster behind the leak, the game, known as Project Americas, has been in production since 2015 though it was placed on ice while Red Dead Redemption 2 was the focus. GTA 6 could be expansive, set across multiple decades (the 1970s to 1980s) and locations (one of which is Vice City, another Liberty City and another is a fictional city based on Rio de Janeiro).
The game will apparently deal with one playable protagonist named Ricardo and play through their story as a rising drug lord with heavy inspiration from Netflix's Narcos series. The story will be told through chapters, with a heavy emphasis on the visuals of changes in time as the story progresses. While there's no estimated release date given, the post says that the plan is to release the game for the next generation only.
While it's unlikely that the whole report is true (even the poster says that the game's pre-alpha status means things are likely to change) that's not to say some elements are impossible. Certainly, a next-gen only release seems entirely plausible. Before you get too excited, though, the post has already been debunked by Kotaku's Jason Schreier.
A good rule of thumb is that if a video game leak is a giant list of incredible-sounding bullet points, it's fake https://t.co/lWHFRv9xZk pic.twitter.com/o9SZWcQPuJ2 July 2019
Another rumor?
This is definitely one to take with a big pinch of salt but, according to this leak, Grand Theft Auto 6 will return to multiple previous fan-favorite locations, take inspiration from Red Dead Redemption 2, and won't release on current-gen consoles. Well, that's according to an anonymous post made on Pastebin, which has since been removed (via Comic Book) .
According to the post, GTA 6 will allow players to travel between several big cities, including Liberty City and Vice City. The poster also claims you start off as a small-time drug runner before joining an infamous gang and kicking it with the big dogs.
In addition, the post claims Rockstar is waiting to see how the new-generation consoles sell as GTA 6 wouldn't be able to be released on the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One due to memory restrictions. The anonymous poster also claimed GTA 6 will feature both major cities along with a vast stretch of highways and Blaine County-like countryside in the middle of it all.
Finally, the post claims that, despite the game being set in a timed era, there will be flashbacks between missions and Red Dead Redemption 2-type stranger dialogues that implement the greet/antagonize format.
While location rumors seem to be leaking in abundance, the anonymous Pastebin post has been backed up by review on Glassdoor by a Rockstar Games QA tester, which has since been removed (via Dexerto). Alongside reading out Rockstar for its institutionalized crunch, the post leaves a cryptic message that sees the first letter of each sentence spelling out 'GTA6LSVCLC'. This may be pointing to the potential locations of Grand Theft Auto 6: Los Santos, Vice City, and Liberty City.
Wonder what these locations would look like together as an actual map? Graphic designer RealityDesign posted a concept image on GTA Forums, showing what this map could potentially look like. Check it out below:
The Know report on Vice City
The most significant Grand Theft Auto 6 rumor came from YouTube channel The Know. It stated that an inside source told it that GTA 6 is coming 2021-2022 and is being developed under the code name Project Americas.
The reason for this code name is apparently because players will be able to fly between the US and South America in the game, though the majority of the action will take place in the former. This in combination with the source's assertion that the game will largely be set in Vice City (the Rockstar version of Miami) suggests there could be a focus on drug-running which would draw on the popularity of shows and movies like Narcos and Tom Cruise's Made in America. Particularly if Rockstar holds on to that 80s setting.
With no comment from Rockstar, these rumors remain nothing more than, well, rumors - it's also very unlikely at this point that we'll see GTA 6 in 2022. But they do pose an interesting proposition that would seize upon the particular fondness many fans of the series have for Vice City.
GTA 6 is coming and there are ideas
What we do know about GTA 6 is that ideas are being thrown around for development, even if it’s just in the early stages. Rockstar President Leslie Benzies teased the game in an interview back in 2013 with Develop magazine.
“We don’t know what GTA 6 will be, but we’ve got some ideas,” said Benzies in the interview.
Okay, so it’s not much, but it’s certainly a snippet of solid information direct from the source. Benzies went on to talk about what kind of ideas get the creative juices flowing over at Rockstar.
“We’ve got about 45 years’ worth of ideas we want to do,” he added. “We’ll pick the right ones," Benzies said. “It comes from the idea first. Where it is going to be set is the first question. That then defines the missions; you’re doing different things in LA than in New York or Miami. The map and story get worked up together, and the story is a basic flow of how it works out so you can layer the mission in.”
We’re just pleased that Rockstar has so many ideas for what it wants to do with GTA 6. We just hope it sorts them into some kind of organised system and gets that game to us sharpish.
GTA 6 map: where will GTA 6 be set?
Although there haven’t been any concrete reports as yet, every online titbit and juicy gossip morsel is pointing towards GTA 6’s map being absolutely massive. We’re even not talking city-size massive, we’re talking potentially the entirety of the United States massive.
Just like with the Project Americas leak listed above, some rumors are suggesting that GTA 6 may end up spanning the entirety of the US, or at least cover certain cities inspired by places in America. If it does span the entire country, there might be some kind of teleportation system to cut down the journey time between cities.
There are even some incredibly exciting rumors that Rockstar Games might have a ‘70s theme up its sleeve, so crack out those old bell-bottoms and disco balls
But there’s also another rumour that’s gathering strength, which would put GTA 6 a little closer to Rockstar Games’ British home – a London setting.
The reports actually started with a comment from Rockstar Games’ co-founder Dan Houser:
“At the moment, it feels like GTA’s DNA is contemporary-ish, American-ish, English-speaking-ish, because that’s what it has been… But that doesn’t necessarily limit it to those, that’s just what we’ve done so far.”
Rockstar Games sources suggest that London is the only non-US location to be whispered as a potential GTA setting.
For our money, we think a return to Vice City in some form is on the cards, which would tie into the rumors mentioned above. A report from The Know suggests that a return to Vice City in the 80s is actually in the works and that players will explore the rise in drugs at the time through the missions. In this rumored game, players will move between Vice City and South America, which would create a very interesting and entirely new kind of map.
The GTA 3 trilogy was set across three locations, Liberty City, Vice City, and San Andreas. This mirrored the original Grand Theft Auto Game, which was also set across the same three locations.
The most recent Grand Theft Auto games, GTA 4 and GTA 5 have so far been set in Liberty City and San Andreas respectively, meaning that Vice City is the only location yet to be explored by the recent games.
The only question now is whether Rockstar will be tempted to complete the set.
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